Frico Keeps Researchers Warm in the Chalmers Lab

Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

Frico products can be found in a new innovations lab that Chalmers University of Technology has started. Fan heaters and ceiling fans ensure that all the researchers and students stay warm.

Future Innovative Solutions for the Automotive Industry

During the autumn of 2015, Revere (Resource for Vehicle Research) was opened at Lindholmen in Gothenburg, Sweden. The lab has been started in a collaboration between Chalmers, Volvo AB and Volvo Car Corporation with financing from the county, focussing on future innovative solutions for the automotive industry. The emphasis is on active safety and autonomous vehicles, that is driverless vehicles, a future that is perhaps closer than we think.

Frico Products Save Energy and Gives Greater Comfort

The premises are in a former industrial building close to the harbour in Gothenburg, in the neighbourhood previously known as Pannverkstaden. Steam boilers were manufactured here in the days of the old dockyards. The workshops were then empty for many years and funtioned as a cold storage.

Now the premises have been repainted and to keep it warm, two SWH fans have also been installed. Because of the ceiling heights, there are also ICF ceiling fans in the ceiling to make sure that the heat circulates downwards to the occupied zone. This saves energy and gives greater comfort. In addition, all the fans run silently, which makes the atmosphere in the premises more pleasant.

DriveMe Has the Aim of Getting Autonomous Vehicles on the Roads

Today, the premises are used as an innovation laboratory, where Volvo contributes with vehicles to the operation and Chalmers leads the research work. Right now it is the biggest ongoing project that Volvo has. DriveMe is a self-driving car project with the aim of getting autonomous vehicles on Gothenburg's ring roads. The lab gives the opportunity to test things in reality, that previously only could be simulated on computers. When the vehicles have been converted they can then be test driven in real life, on the AstaZero test track in Borås, Sweden. Real life testing can then reveal, for example, whether the algorithms and systems for overtaking or avoiding collisions work as they should.

At the moment Revere's main focus is on cars and trucks. But the future looks bright and discussions are underway looking at new projects involving wheel loaders and buses. The idea is that the lab will act as an open arena for innovation, unlike the labs that are already under Volvo's direction. Here students from Chalmers' training programs have the opportunity to test their ideas and the big breakthrough for the automotive industry of the future is just one thought away.

SWH, Intelligent fan heater with extremely low sound level, for water connection
SWH
Intelligent fan heater with extremely low sound level, for water connection
ICF, Equalizes the temperature in buildings with high ceilings
ICF
Equalizes the temperature in buildings with high ceilings